Using the voice I have to speak up

Expiration Dates

I’ve heard it said that President Obama’s words have “expiration dates,” meaning they can be true for the immediate months/days/hours after he says them, but can expire at any given moment, without notice. There is an immense amount of danger in trusting a politician like this with something so important as our healthcare. Thankfully, we can already see a huge example of an expired statement, even before the nightmare is voted on.

“No matter how we reform health care, we will keep this promise to the American people. If you like your doctor, you will be able to keep your doctor, period. If you like your health care plan, you’ll be able to keep your health care plan, period. No one will take it away, no matter what.”

That was June 15th to the American Medical Association. Lest there be any confusion, he said it again:

“If you like what you’re getting, keep it,” Obama said. “Nobody is forcing you to shift.”

Unless the government decides to…whenever they want.

According to the New York Post, the current bills being crafted in Congress will most likely make you shift.

The bills now before Congress would force you to switch to a managed-care plan with limits on your access to specialists and tests.

Two main bills are being rushed through Congress with the goal of combining them into a finished product by August. Under either, a new government bureaucracy will select health plans that it considers in your best interest, and you will have to enroll in one of these “qualified plans.” If you now get your plan through work, your employer has a five-year “grace period” to switch you into a qualified plan. If you buy your own insurance, you’ll have less time.

And as soon as anything changes in your contract — such as a change in copays or deductibles, which many insurers change every year — you’ll have to move into a qualified plan instead (House bill, p. 16-17).

When you file your taxes, if you can’t prove to the IRS that you are in a qualified plan, you’ll be fined thousands of dollars — as much as the average cost of a health plan for your family size — and then automatically enrolled in a randomly selected plan (House bill, p. 167-168).

Even if this weren’t the case, think with me a moment. The government is going to begin “competing” with private insurance companies. It will set the rules for what coverage everyone must have and will tailor its own plan to offer exactly what those rules are. It won’t necessarily be concerned about cost, since it can take whatever it needs from the taxpayer at any time. The government will become the CEO of the league and the umpire, while entering its own team. It can even subsidize players’ salaries with money from everyone else in the league whenever it wants. Does anyone else think this isn’t a fair competition?

When the government first announces its plan, with rates set artificially low, many employers will simply dump their insurance plans and move their employees into the public plan. So even if the individual liked his or her plan, he or she will not, in fact, be able to keep it.